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New Pages Under Development
The Profile pages available on The Religious Movements Homepage, with few exceptions, have been created by undergraduate students at the University of Virginia. Since this project was initiated in the Fall Term of 1996, more that 375 students have contributed Profiles of religious groups that have been uploaded to this site. Many pages have been throughly rewritten. In some instances, the rewrites have resulted because of rapid chances in the life of new religions. In most instances, the upgrades resulted from much greater availability of electronic data resources.
Mr. Hadden is on research leave for the Spring Term of 2001. He will be editing and uploading
materials created by students during the Fall 2000 term, but there will be no additional new
student pages this term. If you would like to offer comments on existing pages, or are
interested in seeing a particular group included at a later date, please send Mr. Hadden a note. Thanks for your interest in this site.
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Comments About the Development and Evolution of this Site:
Each term students enrolled in my New Religious Movement course at the Univeristy
of Virginia create a Profile Page as their term project. What began as a voluntary option
in the Fall Term of 1996 is now a course requirement. Through their independent research,
students have the opportunity both to learn about a religious movement in some depth and
to acquire the skills to create a web page.
I want to publically thank the students who have taken my course over the past three years for their conscientious efforts in creating individual web pages that substantially exceeded my expectations. It was their abilities and eagerness to excell that transformed just another course web page into a world class resource on the Internet. The result of their collective effort is a product that is nothing less than the premiere resource on the Internet for accessing information about religious movements. Mentoring these students has been the most rewarding endevour in four decades of teaching in higher education.
Let me offer a few brief comments about how the page has developed and where we are headed.
- Since this New Religious Movements site was initiated in 1996, the volume of
web-based resources has increased enormously. So also has the ease with which library
resources can be accessed electronically. This technological explosion in the accessibiliy of resources has altered how research is done and the quality of research products.
My expectations regarding the quality of work an undergraduate student can and will produce, if challenged, has risen because my most able students have taught me to set higher goals. As I have raised my expectations, students have risen to the challenge and then some.
- The quality of web pages on this site increases each semester. This reflects the willingness of students to reach for excellence, but it is also the result of more and more materials being available electronically. We are now in the process of going back and upgrading pages that were created in the early semesters of this project. Approximately one-third of the students in my classes this term are reworking pages that already exist. We shall continue this program of enhancement for several more semesters.
- As this site has moved toward maturity, I increasingly receive inquiries as to why
we have not included the major world religions. The simple answer is that when the
project began, it reflected the subject matter of the course, i.e., an emphasis on
"new" religions.
As the site develops we are moving further and further from religious groups that are recently new. The major world religions are, after all, the parent organizations of all sectarian movements. Over the next two terms we hope to add substantial pages on all the major world religions; five are under construction this term.
- I receive a fair amount of mail from people who inquire about the rationale for
including groups that are obviously not new. Zoroastrianism, for example, predates
Christianity. My approach to understanding the dynamic character of religion is the
simple and obvious observation that all religions were once new. And, further, all
religions have the potential for generating religious movements through schism, reform,
or inspiring innovation.
Increasingly, scholars of religious movements are searching for dynamics and processes
that are recurrent, whether the group in question was formed this decade, the early 20th century, or five hundred or a thousand years ago. Students who create pages on groups that emerged during the Reformation may not capture the subtlities and nuances of the religious movement paradigm, but they are creating a resource that I know will be helpful to those who undertake systematic comparative research.
- Finally, let me say that I almost certainly know the weaknesses of this web site better than anyone else. While I have high expectations from my students, their products do fall short of perfection. This is substantially so because I am not an expert on all the many groups they research and, hence, I often don't give them the guidance they need.
As I became aware of the increasing volume of traffic accessing these pages, I felt a sense of vulnerability. Much to my suprise and profound appreciation, a significant proportion of correspondence we receive comes from persons who like the product enough that they are eager to help make it better. The advice we receive isn't always correct, but a good bit of the time it is. The result of the counsel we receive from readers is a site that is ever in the process of development. I am profoundly appreciative to all who have provided information to help enrich the
quality of these pages and correct erronious or misleading information. I get behind and am not always able to respond immediately, but we do research every suggestion and we are constantly making changes. Your feedback is always welcome.
Jeffrey K. Hadden
University of Virginia
03/06/00
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